One of my goals for 2018 is to become more minimalist. I wish I could be one of those people who can fit all their clothes neatly into one dresser and one small closet and be able to pack up and move without having 700 bags and boxes but I’m not. I like things. And I have a hard time getting rid rid of things.
In addition to just clothes and things there are people and distractions that stop me from staying focused on my goals and doing things that actually add value to my life. It’s a daily struggle for me to get rid of anything in my life but I’m taking baby steps every day. Here are the 5 things I’m focusing on getting rid of in March.
People who don’t add value to your life.
There are a lot of these kinds of people. People you keep in touch with or follow on social media but there’s no reason why. You don’t have meaningful conversation, they don’t post anything that makes you happy or inspires you, in fact, they might be posting things that actually make you angry or annoyed. I go through phases where I unfollow, unfriend, and delete all these kinds of people. This is probably some kind of erratic behavior but whatever. When I see people posting a bunch of political or rude posts, I want it gone from my feed.
Memberships you don’t use.
I’m lowkey ashamed to admit I have a lot of these. I’ve been slowly realizing that I belong to things that are charging me a couple dollars a month. I’ve started to cancel these subscriptions and memberships and in the next 10 days or so I hope to take an audit of what I use and how often and decide if it’s worth my time and money. If not, it’s going to go.
Social media notifications on your phone
This is a HUGE one for me. When I was getting notifications on my phone I was constantly checking it. Even though I knew my phone would tell me when I got a text, like, or email, I would check anyway out of habit. I’ve started turning off notifications and I think about my phone and all the apps on it much less often. I even went as far as silencing texts and calls but realized that may have been too far and have since added some back.
Expired anything
Whether it’s a coupon, lotion, makeup, food, or anything else, get rid of it. I recently did a fridge clean out and realized there was yogurt in it that expired in DECEMBER 2015! It’s now 2018, you guys. I also have makeup and lotions from high school which was roughly 10+ years ago. Maybe I’m the only one with this hoarding problem but I highly doubt it.
Clothes you haven’t worn in 6 months.
I’m not practicing what I preach with this one. I have clothes from like, 15 years ago. But the point here is that I’m trying. I’m selling, donating, and throwing out clothes all the time. Apparently the rule of thumb is 6 months not wearing something (a season), but sometimes you just need to keep some of those things. The problem I have is that I went maybe 8 years without getting rid of much so I have a lot to deal with and sort through now.